Day 94: Redemption

May 12, 2006

The car rescue operation had been scheduled to begin at 8 o'clock in the
morning. Antonio showed up at our hotel at 8:10AM, this way becoming the most
punctual person we have ever met in Latin America.

Straight away all five of us marched to the copy center across the street,
where we received Antonio's first order: to make 4 sets of photocopies of
all the shipping documents, along with the titles of the vehicles and Jeff's
motorcycles, our passports, all the valid and no-longer-valid visas in our
passports, and all the national and international driver's licenses we had
- "just in case!" Each of us then got one of the sets. According
to Antonio, if any three of us lost their sets, there would still be the fourth
one left. In case we managed to lose all four sets of copies, we would still
have the originals, which had been carefully guarded by Dovi.
Now that we know Antonio better and are familiar with his recurring urge to
photocopy EVERYTHING in abundant quantities, we could guarantee that that
morning he found a moment to secretly make the fifth or maybe even the sixth
set of copies - just in case!! However, back then we just obeyed all of his
orders and kept praying for the successful end of the rescue operation.

At 9:30AM two Antonio's assistants were already waiting for us at the entrance
of Puerto Maritimo. They brought seven bright-colored jackets and helmets
(the obligatory safety gear for port visitors), which all of us quickly put
on. At this point, however, our ability to understand what was going on pretty
much ended. What happened during the remaining part of the day for the most
part reminded of a comedy flick in the fast forward mode, starring Antonio,
who was running like crazy from one office to another, talking to hundreds
of officials, requesting permissions, submitting petitions, and giving continual
orders to his two assistants. Our humble role was to be available at all times
(which meant actively participating in the mad race and trying to match Antonio's
pace, which was not always easy!), and make sure there were enough $5, $10
and $20 bills in Antonio's pocket.
Different amount of dollars accompanied every single petition and conversation.
It was quite a memorable experience to watch how swiftly and effortlessly
the little green bills opened all the needed doors, eliminated lines and returned
officers to their work places from lunch breaks or "important meetings"
By the way, all the services provided by Ecuadorian customs are officially
free of charge :)

Occasionally we would take short breaks from running, and make copies. We
kept photocopying stamps and signatures, our own petitions, the copies of
the petitions, and the copies of the copies. Since each of us had to have
a separate set, every paper was being reproduced four times. Yet, the most
memorable moment was still to come. Around noon, when each of the four stacks
had reached at least one inch in thickness, Antonio ordered four copies of
the entire file again :) No wonder Ecuador is facing a serious deforestation
problem!!

Yet, the biggest surprise of this truly unforgettable day came at the end
of it from our redeemer Antonio himself. Late at night, when we finally had
our cars back and were thanking Antonio for the job well done, he suddenly
said "You know, no matter how much you guys hated this system, it is
actually very positive for Ecuador and its people. Chaos and corruption create
new jobs and help people like myself support their families."
Well, as many people as many attitudes We know some countries that have
found different ways to benefit from tourism, and we somewhat prefer those
other ways to the Ecuadorian strategy